Chief secy’s go-ahead to Patna Smart City proposals

The draft proposal talks about several ambitious schemes for the city primarily for Gandhi Maidan-Patna Junction area, including four-laning of road around Gandhi Maidan with cycle tracksTNN | March 03, 2017, 16:30 IST

PATNA: Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh on Thursday gave in-principle approval to the final draft proposal for development of Patna as a smart city. The state government is required to submit the final proposal under Smart City competition to the Union urban development ministry by March 25.

The draft proposal talks about several ambitious schemes for the city primarily for Gandhi Maidan-Patna Junction area, including four-laning of road around Gandhi Maidan with cycle tracks, underground parking facility for 400 vehicles, development of multi-storied shopping complexes in New Market and solar panels on government buildings among others.

Integrated command and control centre and intelligent solid waste management have also been proposed under pan-city solutions, which envisage application of selected ‘smart solutions’ to the existing citywide infrastructure.

“A detailed presentation was given on the proposals made for developments in Patna under Smart City mission. The chief secretary gave his in-principle nod to the proposals with minor suggestions. He also asked to prioritise different schemes, so that they could be executed accordingly upon sanction of funds. The finalised proposal incorporating suggestions from the chief secretary would be sent to the Centre by March 25,” Patna municipal commissioner Abhishek Singh told TOI.

Patna and six other state capitals have been given a “wild card” entry or a second chance to participate in PM Narendra Modi’s ambitious Smart City mission.

As per preliminary plans, an area of 865 acres covering Gandhi Maidan- Patna Junction-R Block has been earmarked under area-based development. The solutions proposed under area-based development include development of shopping complexes, IT centre (near petrol pump at Kargil Chawk), cycle and jogging tracks, riverfront development and solar panels atop government buildings.

Senior officials present at the meeting said the chief secretary asked the officials concerned to increase the size of urban streets under riverfront development scheme to 60feet. He also asked the officials to integrate it with under-construction Loknayak Ganga Path, commonly known as Ganga driveway.

Apart from development of modern amenities, the plan has also proposed to form a heritage circuit, which would connect Golghar, collectorate, Patna Museum and Patna GPO. A two-km long footpath along with a track for motorised rickshaw is proposed to be developed along the heritage monuments in Patna Junction-Gandhi Maidan area.